After several recent apartment fires in Starkville, many will begin to look into renters insurance. A lot of people do not know if they have renters insurance through their rented property or if it is something they should obtain.
Jenna Edwards, an agent’s assistant from State Farm, said often people do not think about the contents of their residence until they have a loss.
“A lot of people say ‘my belongings aren’t worth insuring,'” she said. “But if you take a quick inventory at your house, a lot of people are surprised at what adds up.”
Edwards said another popular insurance myth is people believe their landlord covers their content.
“The landlord insurance only covers the actual building,” she said. “It does not cover personal property.”
Edwards said renters insurance helps protect belongings against fire, theft and other cover charges. Liability protection is included, which protects the renter against costly lawsuits.
Fay Dexter, an AllState Agent, said people do not realize how affordable renters insurance actually is.
“You can pay anywhere from $20-25 a month and have $15,000 of renters insurance,” she said.
Dexter said statistics show that an average person owns about $30,000 worth of possessions.
“When you think of things in your home, you first think of furniture and computers,” she said. “But things such as CD’s, movies and other things you accumulate all add up.”
Dexter said having a renters policy not only replaces possessions if damaged, but will also supply money to rent somewhere else if the apartment is deemed uninhabitable.
“Ours starts at $15,000 which is the minimum,” she said. “It can go up to $100,000 depending on possessions.”
Dexter said it is definitely recommended to get renters insurance, especially considering that burglary rates are higher among rented properties. She said 75 percent of burglaries occur in rented property.
Emily Cain, a Mississippi State University communication instructor, recently lost her apartment due to a fire at Crossgates Apartments and said she now realizes how important renters insurance is.
“I’ve been told that it’s not very expensive at all, and I’m now seeing how helpful it would be in a time like this,” she said. “Knowing that a check is coming your way to help you rebuild would take a huge burden off.”
Cain said that at Crossgates, when a lease is signed, there is a section asking if the leasee has renters insurance, and if “no” is selected, there’s a section asking if the leasee would like to receive information about it.
“It also says in the lease that your possessions are your responsibility, and they won’t be held liable,” she said.
Cain said she definitely recommends getting renters insurance even though it may cost you a little money.
“Living in an apartment, you can lose everything at no fault of your own,” she said. “Too many people have lived that lately, and I think having insurance would definitely soften the blow if a crisis did happen.”